Time Saving Tips For A Busy Mom

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Do you ever feel like there are just not enough hours in the day? Check out these time saving tips written by a busy mom! It is all about knowing your priorities.

As a busy mom, life can sometimes escape me.

Things happen, life happens.

All of a sudden, its bedtime for your kids and you realize your house is a mess and you did not get your workout in.  Do you sacrifice some bonding time with your spouse to catch up on your to-do list for the day, or just finish it tomorrow?

I struggled with time management for years, and honestly, I still do in some ways.  I am always learning and growing as a human being but, as a mom looking after 4 tiny humans, things do not always go perfectly and rarely go exactly as planned.

These time saving tips will not be quick fixes.

I am going to let you know that upfront.  Nothing that offers you a quick fix is worth your time.  Instead of looking for quick fixes, consider small changes that you can implement into your life now.  These changes can drastically change your mindset and how you approach the concept of time.

As a human being, you should always be looking toward the future and not letting the past dictate your life.  Know what is worth your time and these time saving tips can help you reach your goals.

Set Your Priorities

Knowing your priorities is the key to being able to manage your time.  You cannot manage your time if you do not know what you want to achieve.

This is the first time saving tip I would like to share with you.

These goals and achievements may be for the day, for the week, or for years.  They could be to help you achieve small goals or gigantic dreams.  What you do today, even the small things, can set you up for success in the future.  The time you spend now on certain goals will help you in the future.

Base your priorities around your future.

If you want a less cluttered space in the future, work on decluttering it now.

Do you want more time with your child?  Set habits today that will allow for that.

Are you wanting a raise next month? Put in the effort now to show your boss you are worth every penny you ask for.

Being able to prioritize your to do list for the day based around your goals will allow you to see the bigger picture of time management.  If you plan your day based on your goals, you can get into the habit of working in a way that will set you up for future success.

Create habits that will help you be productive today and in the future.

Knowing what is a priority will also help you understand the habits you have which are not beneficial.  Removing the non-beneficial habits and prioritizing what is important to you will help you manage your time more efficiently.

For example: As someone who is building an online business, spending time on social media is important for my future goals.  Networking and sharing will help my business in the future.  It will also help create skills that will benefit my business.  I can practice my skills while growing my business.  But social media might not help you reach your goals and might actually hinder your progress if you are neglecting things that will help you to fulfil your dreams.  I have to know how to balance social media and other aspects of building a business because we all know how addicting social media can be.

Stack Your Life

I have recently come across a few different lifestyle changes that use of the word stack.  You can stack activities into a routine you need to do every day (habit stacking), or you can stack like tasks together to complete multiple things at once.  For time saving tips, we are going to focus on the stacking of tasks.

If you can stack multiple things into one task, then you can use your time more effectively.

Say your goal for today includes exercising, spending time with your children, and getting out into nature.  You can choose to view all these things as separate entities that need to be done individually, or you can see the value of doing them together.

A hike through the woods as a family could be a way you knock all 3 of those tasks off.

We value experiences and always look for ways to be together as a family.  Being able to instil healthy habits, like getting some natural movement into your life, I really value that time.  As unschoolers and parents, we thrive on being able to turn every moment into a learning opportunity – for both my children and myself.  I am able to teach time management, active lifestyles, respect for yourself, and people and things around you, and so much more in just a simple walk outdoors.

There are no many things that can be combined together to help save time and be productive.

Cooking dinner can be done as a family for bonding and eating.

Squats and lunges can turn cleaning time into exercise time.

Use your imagination and you will be able to check off so many things from your to do list!

Give Yourself Tight Timelines

Have you ever given yourself a lenient deadline to get something accomplished?

For example: You know that the project will only take you a few hours to do but you give yourself two days, say over the weekend, to get it done.  By Sunday night you are scrambling to get it done because you did not manage your time well and kept putting it off or getting distracted.

This time saving tip puts you on a tight timeline, so what happens if you fail?

Answer that question honestly.  What happens if you do not meet your deadline?

A lot of the time, the answer to that question is “not much”, especially if it is a self-imposed deadline.  So perhaps instead of giving yourself more time than you need, you should challenge yourself with a tight deadline.

Try and get your living room cleaned in an hour.

On our YouTube channel, I often give myself 15 minute or 60-minute cleaning challenges.  I could say I just need to get my living room cleaned today but, if I challenge myself to get it done within an hour, I am much more inspired to get it done and get it done quickly.  But what happens if it takes 72 minutes?  Nothing.  At the end, my project is accomplished and I am done a lot earlier than if I had just said I wanted to do it today.

Parkinson’s law is the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.

My biggest time saving tip is to not view any moment as wasted time.

There is no such thing as wasted time.

You need to shift your view of how you live your life.  It may not be the best use of time, but it was not wasted.

If you want to spend time perusing Facebook, then own that time.  Understand why you are doing it and what benefit you are receiving from it.  Perhaps you are learning something new or giving yourself a mental break from the stimulus of a busy day.  If you think you could have better used that time then own that and move forward.

Seeing time as something that has been wasted in a negative thought that you do not need clouding your mind.  Move forward and take positive steps to choose things that will benefit you in the best way possible.

You cannot change the past, so next time you find yourself being drawn in by the lure of social media, put on a timer for a time you deem appropriate and then have the willpower to walk away.

Think of this concept in terms of food.

McDonald’s is not the healthiest option you could make for yourself, but it is still food.  It is still calories that your body can use for fuel.  That food has a purpose and even if it is not ideal it is not, in essence, bad.  But, like your time, you may have been able to make a better choice to better yourself and your situation.

We need to stop viewing the world around us as good or bad.  This is not a black or white situation.  Everything happens for a reason and you need to take ownership of your experiences so you can move forward.

You just need to figure out your priorities, stack where you can, and allocate your time (or diet) appropriately.

Your Time Is Valuable

Do you have any time sharing tips you would like to share?  Let me know in the comments down below!